25 June 2010

Horseboy

I guess that all of us who use the Internet regularly are very familiar with Google Maps Streetview. It is an amazing facility. You can check out so many places and instead of thinking in terms of bird's eye map views of places, you can actually see what a particular street looks like.

A couple of years ago, a young man I know called Dan was walking up the back lane towards our house when a strange vehicle turned the corner. It had the word "Google" written on the side and above its roof a dome protruded with cameras inside. It was taking pictures/film for Streetview. Now Dan is captured for all time at the top of Murray Road in Sheffield. His face has been blurred to conceal his identity but he's there - one of Streetview's random cast.

In the peaceful suburbs of Aberdeen, Scotland the Streetview vehicle travelled up a street called Hardgate and probably unwittingly captured a very odd image. It's a young man in a purple sweater but he has a horse's head - undoubtedly a mask. He's just standing there. Does he always wear a horse's head mask or did he know the Streetview vehicle was coming?

Via tweeting and Facebook this "Horse-boy" has become a cause-celebre. Everybody wants to know who he is and how he came to be standing on that unremarkable street wearing a horse's head mask. It makes me think that if only we knew the Streetview vehicle's itinerary in advance we could be ready to appear in unusual guises - possibly in a few different places. Rather than donning a horse's head I'd be dressed as Hull City's mascot - Roary the Tiger.

6 comments:

  1. Google captured a photo of our black and white cat sitting in the front window of our house. If only Brad the Gorilla had been sitting there instead.

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  2. SAINTS If Brad the Gorilla had been sitting there, the dimensions of your window ledge would belong in the Guinness Book of Records!

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  3. Google maps is really sophisticated. I agree with you. But i've never seen something like this.

    Nice to know this blog...ehm i thought this blog would be about pudding recipe. haha...

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  4. Mr. Pudding, as Donna calls you,
    I have decided to add you to my friend's list, because, if there is anything I appreciate it's the opinions and views of a "real" English gentle man.
    I shall return to take a peek at the daily accounts of an English citizen.

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  5. PUDDING RECIPE Sorry to disappoint you. It would be very difficult to keep up a blog for five years all about making Yorkshire puddings! But I am happy you dropped by and paused a while.
    SUNSHINE Thanks for adding me to your blog roll. I will call by your blog very soon. As for being an English "gentleman", I am afraid that some would call me an English ruffian, a ne'er-do-well or as one bar keeper in Ohio used to refer to me, "that limey bastard". I'm afraid I don't blog every day but every two or three days nowadays - you can have too much of a good thing!

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  6. Still falling about laughing about the words 'English gentle man' and 'Mr Pudding' being in the same sentence without a 'not' in there too.

    ReplyDelete

Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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